What Good Awaits You
by Snorcackle
Summary: After the Battle of Hogwarts, Neville wonders if the costs outweigh the gains, and Luna provides her own perspective. Neville/Luna


**AN: **To make a long story short, I needed to write something that didn't have Time Lords in it, and I've just been feeling a tad bit shippy today, so this happened. It's a bit sappy, even for my standards, but I just needed to get it out. Enjoy!

* * *

Neville sat down at the edge of the lake, looking out at the calm surface and for several miles onward into the forested hills. Behind him, he could almost feel the destruction left by the battle. The castle was left in near ruins, where so many had died. Had he been told even a year ago that this sort of thing would happen, he would never have guessed that he, of all people, would make it out alive. And, yet, here he sat.

He had maintained a few injuries, but nothing too serious. He had some cuts, some burns, and what _felt_ like a dislocated rib, but there were people out there who required much more medical attention than he did.

The carnage surrounding him was almost unbelievable, and, yet, there was still cause for celebration. Voldemort was gone, forever this time. Harry Potter had defeated him. There was no more fear, or, at least, no more fear of _this_ sort of thing happening any time soon. Maybe, someday, other people would have to deal with their own dark wizards, but Neville could only hope that none of them would be nearly as devastating as the one he had spent the last few years fighting against.

He felt reluctant to describe it that way. Yes, he had been fighting Voldemort, but he was hardly the bravest. There was Harry, obviously, and Ron and Hermione, not to mention Ginny. And Luna.

Oh, most of all, Luna.

Neville tilted his head down as he took in a deep breath which pained his rib. It was odd, really. He was hardly the most important person out there, but he was going to get credit later because he had slain Nagini. Luna had not only fought fiercely; she had also helped Harry recover a horcrux, spread everything she knew to be true through her father's newspaper without fear of prosecution, and managed to stay calm in the face of destruction. She was _incredible_, and she would hardly be remembered after the battle's end.

Oddly enough, Neville had become so wrought with guilt just thinking about her that he hardly even noticed when she sat down right beside him.

"You look upset," Luna said, making him jerk his head upwards unexpectedly and causing him to locate another undiscovered bruise.

"Well, there's been a lot of blood today. Voldemort's gone, sure, but a lot of good people have died."

"Do you think it was worth the cost?"

Neville wasn't sure how to answer. "I have trouble believing that something could be worth the cost of losing so many lives, but, if anything were to _be_ worth it, I think it would be this." He knew that he didn't look convinced.

Luna took his hand, wrapping her slender fingers around his palms. Oh, another cut. "You know," she said, turning his hand over in hers, "I believe that there is a balance in this world, and, when bad things happen, good things have to happen, too. It's not that people have to _make_ them happen. They just will."

Neville thought on this for a while. The Lestrange's were dead; he had wished for that for so long. They had mercilessly tortured his parents. It would have been kinder, he thought, for his parents to have died than for them to have put up with what they did. Their evil was gone, but what was the cost? Remus Lupin? Fred? Professor Snape? One of these alone would have been almost too much for him, but all three had died that day, along with countless others. "I don't know if enough good things have happened today to outweigh the bad."

Shaking her head, Luna smiled sadly. "You don't understand. Good things _will_ happen, I promise. They might not outweigh the bad, but, by the same token, the bad will not outweigh the good. You can choose to focus on the good things that have happened to you, or you can focus on the bad things that have happened to you. It's your choice."

Neville looked into her crystalline blue eyes. Her face had scrapes, and there were bits of dried blood in her blonde hair. She still managed to look absolutely stunning.

He cleared his throat before speaking. "Do you think people _can_ make the good things happen? Or, you know, do they have to wait?"

"Of course they can. But, sometimes, life will happen anyways while they make plans." She looked up at him and, before he could respond, she gave him a swift peck on the cheek.

Neville smiled as he touched his cheek in wonder. Luna had done to him _exactly_ what he had planned to do to her. He contemplated turning and kissing her full on, but she beat him to that, too.

As she pulled away, she smiled. "I like to think of that as a good thing that has happened for me today."

"Me, too."

Luna's face lit up. She grabbed his hand once more, and, after getting her feet firmly planted on the ground, pulled him up to join her.

"I told you." She brushed his hair away from his face. "Good things will come. Good things will _always_ come."


End file.
